Capping apparatus.



C. J. KRYZANOWSKY.4

CAPP-LNG AFPARATUS.

A APPLICATION EILED JAN8| i915- Pafented Feb'. 20,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

0.1. KRYZANOWSKY.

-CAPP|NG APPARATUS.

Peeeeted Feb. 20,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. 0.1. KRYZANOWSKY- CAPPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED IAN.8. 1915.

I" .6. 9 V10 'I Z7 5' /7 I :y ff

Z0 34 ,2f M 532 2/ Patented Feb. 20, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

entre. sanare earner CONSTANT J. KRYZANOWSKY, OF BALTIMORE, IWARYLANDLASSIGNOR T THE CROWN CORK AND vSEAL COMPANY OF BALTIMORE conronarion orMARYLAND.'

Lerares;

'p `.To iZZ whomif may concern.'

Be it known that L'CoNsTANT JJKRYZA.-

Nowsiiv, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at Baltimore, State of Maryland, havev invented' certain newandius'eful Improve ments in Capping Apparatus, ully described. andrepresented in the following specification and -the accompanyingdrawings, orming a partof the saine.

.This invention relates to'improvements in crowning machines, andparticularly to a a wall orJ the like;

hand machine for bottles.

yThe objectv of the invention is to provide a simple, economica-l andlreliable hand a-plparatus which may be readily adjusted to operate, onbottles of different sizes.r f The invention consists-.in the features,de

tails of constructionl and combinations of parts which will first bedescribed in connec' `.tion with the accompanying drawings and Fig. Gisa horizontal sectional view on the line 6-6 of'Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view showing the throat of thecrown-applying plunger;

Fig. yS is a hdrizontal sectional View on the line S- B of Fig. 4f; Fig.49 is a. detail sectional View on. the line 9 of Fig. 8;

Fig. 1l is a view similar `toFig. 4', showing'tlie plunger in itslowered position at the moment when a cap has been appliedto a bottle.

Referring to the drawings, l is a foot-A plate,'2 a standard, and 3 aguide-head, these parts being suitably united, as, orexample,

by making them integral. These' three parts applying crowns to milkFigi() is a similar viewon theline l of K CITY,'OF BALLIMORE, MARYLAND,A

carriere APPARATUS.

vconstitute what may be termed the `frame of cated at 3% n Thefoot-plate l is made broad enough to Serve as a vsuitable base on whichthe aip-v Specication ef Letters Patent. Patented Febuglll, 19h71 lAppiic'auon 'ined xanjuafys, i915. serial N'o. 1,083.

paratus may stand when it is to be used asa table machine. v

By providing suitable means for. secur` ing theapparatus to awall,"pill'ar or post, yit

maybe :used as a wall machine. In th'ebest embodiment of the invention,the vsecuring means ycomprises a wall-plate 4 suitably se- ".curedto awall, pillar or post, as by means of screws, this wall-plate beingprovided with two forward-projecting lugs 5., 6, ar-

ranged to'lenter slotsi-n the` back of the.

standard?, as shown in Fig. l. The upper. lug 5 :is formed asan.uptu`rned hook,l into the opening yof which may entera pin 7 eX-tending transversely through 4the standard and. acrossthe upper slotthereof. The lower lug has a hole arranged to registerwith a `similarvhole extending transversely throughthes'tandard.- When these holes arein register, a pin 8A may be inserted through them,

thereby :firmly securing the apparatus to the wall-p1ate. The slbts -inthe standard have sufficient lenrth verticali to allow the stand? e yard to be shifted vertically with relation to `.the lugswhen the ,pin 8is withdrawn. In

this way, thev pin 7 inay'befree'd from the opening in the hooked upperlug 5l andthe machine removed from the wall. rlhefootplate carries asuitable bottle-pad,l` which, Ain

the present esamplegis arranged as follows: The foot-plate is providedwith a circular opening, whose axis is in vertical alinement with theaxis of the guide-head 3. This opening has its upper edge rabbeted andiny this rabbet is placed a circular metallic disk 9, on top of which ismounted a circular bottle-pad l0 of elastic material, this padprojectingslightly above .the upper surface of the foot-plate. l

The apparatus is provided with. a suitferent diameters. In vthe presentexample, this` bottle-guide comprises a pair'ot bottle-.

` engaging wings 1l arranged at an angle to' the bottle areadvantageously plane surfaceslv l0()4 able bottleLguide adjusted for.bottles of diftangential to the bottle. The wings are carried by a rod12, whoseaxis slopes upward from yits point of connection with thewings, as shown4 in Fig. 1. The rod is provided with a plurality ofpin-holes, one of which is indigated at 1,3, Fig. 1. The standard has anopeii'ingextending from the front toward the rear of the standardandsloping upward toward the rear. This opening is arranged to receivethe rod 12. The standard is also provided with a pin-hole extendingtransversely to the rod 12, through which hole may be inserted a pin 14arranged to pass through any desired one of the plurality ofholes, suchas 13 ,in the rod 12. By withdrawing the pin 14, theA rod 12 may be slidin or out of the standard and, when in its properly adjusted position,the pin '14 may be replaced to hold therod 12-and with it thebottle-guiding wings 11. By the particular inclined arrangement of therod 12, the wings 11 are not Aonly'moved inward in adjusting the guideto a small-sized bottle, but also are moved downward. In the reverseadjustment of the bottle-guide, to set the machine for operation onlarge bottles, the

i wings are not only moved outward from the center of the axis of thebottle, but also are lmoved upward. In thisway, .the bottle'- guideengages a bottle always about opposite its center of gravity. This isimportant, be-Ay cause it avoids the danger of a bottle being tipped atan angle or knocked over in the rapid operation of the apparatus Theguiding'head 3 of the frame is provided with a `vertical cylindricalbore, .in which is mounted a vertically movable'main plunger 15. Thisplunger is formed of a'thick tube, circular incross sectionand having 'athick wall. rThe tube hasa series 'of-rack teeth cut on-its back,"a`s`iri dicated zit-16, Fig'. 4.- This rack isarrangedtobe engaged by a pinionl17/,locatedinthe housing a'ixed to a shaft 18.k One end ofthissha-ft',` enters a circular endprojecting beyond fthe? housing andsocket in the end of an operating shaft 19 lournaled in the housingv3eland havino one ',sfquared to receive ani operating lever, herein-lafter morefullydescribed. 4 vrThe shaft 19 is `provided-with alongitudinal slot on its peg .riphery, arranged to be engaged by the in-(see Fig. 10) of a coil- .is'pring 21.l This spring is nearly surroundeda mutilated bushing 22, one end of which 55,' of the spring, the hookedportion being indiis tapered to engage the hooked outer end cated at 23.The other'end of the mutilated vsleeve is bent outward. radially, asshown at 24, to enter a notch formed on the inside of thehousing 3a.Thel main operating shaft 19 carries at its inner end a clutch member25, Figs. 8 and 9, this clutch member having a anged portion providedwith internal f'notches arranged to receive the teeth on the pinion 17,these teeth being preferably slightly reduced in length, so'that thepinion appears to be shouldered, as indicated in,v

Fig. 8. The shaft 18 is surrounded bya helical spring 26, which bears atone end against the side of the pinion 17, andat the other end bearsagainst a bushing 2&7 capable of sliding axially in the housing 3a.y Itwill be obvious that the reaction of the spring 26 tends to push thisbushing 27 outward. In order to 4as .a handle, by means of which theshaft 18 may-be rotated.

The operating-clrank, whichengages that part of the shaft 19 extendingloutside the housing, comprises a socket portion 30 arranged tovreceive'. an operating-handle 31, the socket portion being carried onthe outer end of an arm 32 which has asquared open` ing to receive thesquared outer. end of the shaft 19. `The shaft projects slightly outsidethe arm :32and vis provided with a peripheral groove, into which mayy beswung one end of a locking-plate 33, fulcrumed on a rivet 34, which issecured in' thel arm 32. The locking-plate 33 has its other end providedwith an inward-projecting tooth 35 arranged to be receivedin adepression in the outer face of the arm v32, so that when the plate isswung into the peripheral groove in the end of the shaft 19, th'e' tooth35 will spring into the depression and thereby prevent the locking-platefrom being ac- -cidentally released.- lt' will be ,seen that, by

pulling on the handle 31, the shaft 19may be rotated, this rotationbeing in a direction to tighten orwind up the spring 21. Furthermore,owing to the clutch connection between tlie shaft 19 and the pinion 17,the pinion also will be rotated and thereby the main plunger 15 willlbevmoved longitudinally. The spring l21 serves to return theoperating-handle 31 and its connected parts to the normal position,while at'the same iicy time lifting the main plunger 15'.v By pull- Ling out on the handle 29, theoclutch connection between the piniongandthe clutch member 25 will be opened,'while the pinion i remains inengagement with the rack 16 of the main plunger. The plunger may `thenbe adjusted to its proper vertical position by turning the handle 29.Upon releasing Lthe handle, the spring 26 will close the clutchconnection between the pinion 17 and. the clutch member 25, whereuponthe apparatus is ready for operation.

The purpose of this adjustment is to enable the mainplunge'r to bebrought to the proper position to operate on bottles of dif-- ferentsizes.

' ceive a throat ring 36, `whose interior. is

lf at anytime it becomes 'necessary toy remove the pinion 17, the pin 28maybe'withdrawn, z whereupon, the bushing 27, the spring and the'pinion17 may be pulled out.

The main plunger is provided at the lower, end with a head 15a arrangedto reconed and of'suitable dimensions forapplying a determined size ofcrown.' To the under surface of the plungen-hea'd 1,5l is at-j` tached acrown-supporting vdevice 37, having a hole through which the necky ofthe crowned bottle may pass, and recessed to receiqe and hold anunapplied crown iny a po. sitioii above this hole. The crown-supportingdevice is provided with a chute-plate' 37a and .has a lateral opening-sorelated to the channel in the chute-plate that a crown placed in such`channelA may be p iished` into w the interior of thecrown-supportingdevice, where it will befheld in the recess thereinabove the hole, as shown in Fig.- 5.A It -is 'important-for the purposesof this invention that the crown-supporting device be detachl ablysecured to the' plunger.'l While yany suitable means may be employed forthis purpose, the best einbodiment'of the invention comprises fasecuring means consisting of a plurality of pins 38 projecting upwardfrom the crown-supportingdevice, through holes in the flanged' edge 39of the plungerhead. Thepins are provided with. outwardfacing notches, asindicated in Fig. 7, and

I the plunger-head isprovided 'with fa ring i'otatableon its axis andarranged to enter these notches, so 'as to lock the pins againstwithdrawal downward. The locking-ring indicated at 40 (Figs. 6 and 7)has its infterior diameter enlarged at one point, as in-'. dicated at 40(Fig. 6), and at the opposite f side is cut away, as indicatedat.40"1(Fig. 6).

TWhen the opening 40b is in line with one of the pins 38, theenlargement 40a ofvtlie ring is in linewith the `other,pin,.so thatthese pins may move upward at the time the crown-supporting device isbeing pushed into place. By then sliding the lockingring angularlyaboutits center, it will pass into the notches of the pins and thus ildjthem against withdrawal. i

`The main plunger 15 carries an' auxiliaryl plunger or presser-foot 41,lhaving a flared head to Acooperate with the corresponding '-.throatring 36. The constructionjs such 55 that diiiferent 'sizes of preSser-eetmay be used for different sizes of crowns. Each presser-foothas a cylindrical guide portion arranged to fitin the cylindricalbore'of the main plunger 15, this cylindrical portion be ing slotted toreceive the end of a pawllever 42 fulcrumed. to the presser-'foot bymeans of a pin 43 vextending transverselyV through the pressenfoot ,andthrough a hole in the end of the pawl-lever. The upper end of thepawl-lever extendsv through a ratchet-bar will be turned a new wearingsurface.

inclined, portion sloping upward and outward and terminating ata flattop prtion. In orderthatthe yoke 44 may be'readily removed and replaced;it is inserted in acy- Ilindrical opening. in the plunger' 15 and has lits, sides provided with grooves arranged to be engaged by'the .ends ofpins 45 secured in the plunger. The front end of the yoke is slotted forthe reception of a' tool, suoli as 'a screw-driver, whereby the yokema'y be ro.

tated to free-it from the ends of thel pins'45, afterwhicli lit may bewithdrawn from the plunger. i The pawl-lever has'a forward-extendingpawl 42', `whose under face is formed to engage the. above-mentionedflat poi-tion of the ,slot in4 al cylindrical yoke 44, which has an `vyoke, as, for example, by flattening such under-face, whereby thepawl-lever andv presser-foot are limited in their mov-'ement 1 downward.Just beneath the yoke-engaging portion of thepawl is an inclined facear- .ranged to engage and ride along the sloping vthrough this slot thepawl of the' pawl-lever extends so as to engage at the proper `time around rack-bar 48, which isv mounted intfwo llugs 49, 50, carried'by thevguide-head. The round rack-bar has two holes 51,Y 52,' in' this case atright'angles to each other. A. pin 53 4 may be inserted in either hole.The purpose yofhaving two holesis to allow`the rack-bar to be shiftedlongitudinally in such a way that in one positionl the rack-teeth wouldbe displaced vertically about half a tooth `with.

relation to the condition when the rack-bar Iisin the other position.Furthermorethe 4 and thus give lrllhe operation of the device is asfollows; The bottle to be capped-is placed-upon the bottle-pad 10 andpushed back as far asvpossible into the angular space between theHguide-wings 1l.' By' a proper adjustment of the guide-wings, the bottlewill. have its -axis in linewith the axis ofthe plunger. -A crown isplacedupon the chute-plate 37u and, by pushing 'it with another crown,is forced into the recess in the crown-supporting device, 37, where-1tis heldin the position shown in Fig. 5. Atthis time, thel presser-foothas its lower face above the lower edge of the throat-ring, being heldin this position because its pawl, 'pressed out- 'ward by the spring 46,is hookedover the edge of the yoke.- The weight, howev'eigof vthepresser-foot and pawllevercauses the I 17 to lift the plunger.

inclined faces of the pawl and yoke toengage andthereby hold the pawloutof engagement with' the rack-bar. If, now, the handle 3 1 be pulledtoward the operator, the shaft 19 will be rotated and the spring 21coiled. Also, owing to the clutch connection between the clutch-member25 and the pinion 17, thispinion will 'be rotated and by itsv engagementwith the rack-at the back of the plunger will drive the plunger.-downward. During this downward movement, the crown will first be broughtin contact with the top surface of the bottle-mouth, whereupon, ,by

crown in close Contact withr the bottle.,

Thereafter, the further downward movement of the plunger ycauses thetaperedy throat-ring toen'gage the outward-extendingskirt of the crownand gradually force the same downward and inward toward the bottle,whereby the crown is locked under the rim laround the jmouth of the'bottle. Uponl releasing the handle the coiled spring reacts to lift thehandle and rotate the pinion During the initial movement of the plungerin lifting, the pawl stays in contact with the ratchet-ban-thusmaintaining the presser-foot in contact with the crown and holding thebottleiirmly to its base-pad, while the throat-ring is moving upward toclear the capped bottle. When the plunger has raised suiiciently tobring the incl-ined portion of the yoke in contact i withthe'corresponding incline of the pawl,

the continued lifting of the plunger forces to release the pins,whereupon the crown-supthe pawl-member angularly about its pivotalpoint, so as to drive the pawl fromits contact with the ratchet-bar,whereupon, as the 'plunger cpntinues to rise, the pawl .hooks onto theyoke and is lifted with the plunger,

thereby lifting thepresser-foot away from the capped bottle. I

In order to enable the machine to' be used for capping vbottles ofdiffe-rent sizes employing different sizes of crowns, it is necessarythat the crown-supporting device, the

.throat-ring and the presser-footY may with correspondingv devicesadapted for.

other sizes of crowns. In order to make this change, the lockmg-rlng maybe rotated porting device may be drawn' downward and the throat-ringallowed to drop from the plunger head. Theupper end of the pawllever maybe pushed inward tov release it from the yoke, whereupon thepresser-foot,

pawl-lever and attached spring will drop down and may-be removed. Bywithdrawing the` fulcrumed pinv of the pawl-lever, the presser-foot willbe yreleased from the pawl-lever, whereupon another. presser-foot may besubstituted. Thereupon, the presserfoot is pushed upward, the'corresponding substitute throat-ring inserted in the plunger-head, andthe corresponding crown-supporting device applied to the bottom of theplunger-throat and lockedV by the lockingring. The guide-device may besuitablyadjusted, as hereinbefore explained, whereupon itisonlynecessary to adjust the stroke of the machine, by pulling out onIthe handle 29 to release the clutch, rotating the handle to bring theplunger to the proper position and then releasing the handle.

It will be noted that all of the parts are readilyA accessible and thatthe machine can be dismantled and reassembled by unskilled labor andwithout the use of special tools. By removing the bottle pad and thecrown- 4supporting device, the' plunger may be entirely withdrawn fromthe guide-head through the opening in the base-plate of the machine.

lVhat is claimed is 1. In a bottle-capping machine, theI combination,with a 'capping plunger, and means for reciprocating said plunger,- of apresserfoot arranged to engage a crown to retain it on a bottle, aratchet-bar, and-a pawl-lever connected to the presserfoot and having apawl arranged to engage the ratchet-bar.

2. In a bottle-capping machine, the combination with a capping-plunger,and means for reciprocating said plunger, of a presserfoot arranged toengage a crown to retain it'on a bottle, a ratchet-bar, a pawl-leverconnected to the presser-foot and having a pawl arranged to engage theratchet-bar, and a springnormally tending to press the pawl. toward'theratchet-bar.

3. Ina bottle-capping machine, the 'combination withl a vcapping-plungerand means for reciprocating the plunger, of a presserfoot arranged toengaoe a crown to retain it on a bottle, a ratchet-bar, a pawl-leverconnected to the presser-foot and provided with a pawl arranged toengage the ratchet-bar, an abutment device movable with the plunger andarranged to move the pawl away from the ratchet-bar, and a springarranged to press the pawl toward the ratchet-bar.

4. In a capping machine, the combination, with ahollow plunger having anopening, and means for reciprocating said plunger, of a presser-footarranged'to engage a crown to retain it on a bottle, a ratchet-bar tion,with a` hollow `outside the plunger, anda p'awl-lever within 'to theplunger,` of a guide device carried by said plunger, a presser-footarranged to en-y i `the ratchet-bar.,

gage a crown to retain it on ay bottle, and a- `pawl-lever within the-plunger and connect- -ed to said presser-foot, said pawl-lever beingguided by said guide device, saidpawl-lever having a pawl extendingVthrough th-eopeni ingin the plunger and arranged to engage v6.v ,In acapping machina-the combination, with a hollow plunger having anopening, a yoke forming a guide deviceinserted means 'tendirigtopresslsaid pawl toward the 4ratchet-bar.

transverselyin the plunger below, the opening and having an inclinedsurface, means. for reciprocating the plunger,.and a ratchetbar outsideof and stationary relative to the plunger, of a presser-foot mounted inand. movable 'within ,the plunger, said-presserfootbeing arranged'toengage acrown and 'retain it lon a bottle, a pawl-lever connected t0 thepresser-.foot and passing through ,the

yoke, said pwl-lever having a pawl extending through the openingin the'plunger to 'enga-ge the ratchet-bar and havii'ig an inclined surfacecoacting withfthe inclined surface of lthel yoke' device, and vyielding7. In a bottle capping machine, the com b'inationfwith apap-applyingmeans including a die, of a bottle support, means for effect'ing arelative movement between .the applying means. and the support to applya crown, a presser-foot arranged to engage the crown to hold it onthebottle,vand means for holdingl the presser-foot against the? c crownuntil the die'is clear of thecrow'n. 'y

8. In a bottle-capping machina-thel combination with a capping plunger,and means for reciprocating saidplunger, of a presserfoot arranged'toengagea crown to retain it on a bottle, and means for locking thepresser-foot against the'crown vduring a portion of the upward movementof tlie'plunger.

9.*In abottle-capping machine, the coin-v bination, with a cappingplunger, and means for reciprocating saidV plunger, of a presserfootarranged to engage a crown to retain it on a bottle, and positivelyIacting means for holding the presser-footA against the crown during theupward movement ofthe plunger. 10. In a capping machine, the combinationwith a plunger having a head, a throatring inserti'ole in said head, apresser-foot insertible within'the plunger and having av plunger havingan opci'idevice to the head.

and azhousing, lguiding head ydetachable portion removable with 'thethroat-ring, and a crown-supporting device `detachably connectedto theheadI and ar ranged to 'holdthe tliroat-ring inv place. 1,1.,In acapping machine, the combination, with a plunger having ahead `proyvided with holes, and a. throat ring insertible within the plunger-head,of a crownsupportingdevice arranged to retain the throat-ring 'inv placeand provided with notched .pins extending through the holes intheplunger head, and a rotatable locking ring carried by the head andarranged to engage vthe notches inthe v12. In av capping machine, thecombination, withn a'jplunger, having4 a hea'd provided with a flangeand with holes, and a *ring located 5 around 'the head `alcove theflange andfarrangedftoengage the notches inthe pins to'lock'thecrown-supperting.

13, In a capping'machine, the combination, .withla plunger, having ahea-d, means for lreciprocating saidplunger, .a-.`presser pinstolock'the crown-supporting device to the4 head.

foot` withinthe plunger, 'and -mealns inde'- pendent ofitherplunger forholding the presser-foot against a crown during theuplward,movement oftheplunger-yof a ,crown- Ysupporting-device;liaviiig a recess arrangedto receivea crown, an open chutel leading to said recess, and means fordetachably se- 14. In a capping'machine, the'` combination, withaplunger, having a rack, apinion arranged to be shifted axially'into andout of engagement with the rack, an operan operating lever arranged toactuate said shaft, a pinion mounted in the housing and havinga'shaftone end of which isjouriialed in the main operating shaft, a bushingar-4 ranged to be' insertedv in the housing in which bushing the otherend of the pinion shaft is ]ournaled,iand means for securing.

said bush-ingin place. Y f

"'16," In a capping machine, the-combination, with a standard having aguiding head, and a housing, of a plunger movable in the curing saidcrown-supporting ldevice to' the plunger-head.

guiding head and having a" rack, a main y operating shaft rotatablymounted in the housing and provided with'a clutch n iember,v

an operating lever arranged to actuate said shaft, a spring tending tomaintain the operating` lever in a predetermined position, a pinionmounted in the housing and having a shaft one end of which is journaledin the main operating` shaft, a bushing arranged toy be inserted in thehousing in which bushing the other end of the `pinion shaft isjournaled, and means for securing said bushing in place. v

17. ln a capping machine, the combination, with an inclined guide-Way,of a bottle guide having a stem arranged to move insaid inclinedguideway, a pair of Wings secured to said stem and having bottle engabfor securing the stem at any desired position in the 'gii'idewayl gvlnaief/o5 18. ln a capping machine, the combination, with a standardhaving an inclined guide'ivay,

and a plunger movable in the standard, of a bottle guide having Wingsarranged to contact with a bottle Wh'oseaxis is in line with theplunger, said guide desired position relatively to the standard.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in the presence' 'oftWo subscribing Witnesses.

CONSTANT J. KRYZANOVVSKY.l

v Witnesses:

MAX MUELLER, EL W. SAITHE.

